Greetings friends and loved ones – I hope your July is unspooling in a series of golden green days full of sunshine, good food and better memories.

As promised, here is Part 1.2 of my cruelty-free personal care rundown. If you missed Part 1.1, you might want to backtrack to catch up on the whys and wherefores.

First, obligatory photograph – this time of the little baby visitor I have sleeping in the welter of untrimmed shrubbery in my backyard. I’m not mad. ❤

Whilst several personal care items were relatively easy to swap for cruelty-free brands, some are still a work in progress. Top on the list:

Deodorant – Tom’s of Maine lavender is what I’ve been using. Look, it does the job, the price point is good, it glides on and doesn’t leave white marks. The problem is that after years of using deodorant and becoming accustomed to my underarms smelling strongly of tropical orchid or some other intense fragrance, to suddenly find myself smelling NOT perfumey is jarring. I don’t smell bad – it works – but I can smell myself more often, if that makes sense, and I’m not used to that. I don’t want to be sitting in a meeting and smell my own personhood – I want to smell tropical orchid. So this has been a work in progress. I also have a stick of Schmidt’s Ylang-Ylang and Calendula waiting to be tried as I’ve read good things about it although it’s more expensive.

Toothpaste – See above. After years of becoming accustomed to overpowering mint pastes and mouthwashes, the product I went with first has taken some getting used to. Desert Essence Tea Tree & Neem doesn’t taste sweet – in fact I found the flavor kind of gross until I got used to it. And it doesn’t leave my breath super minty either. But I have found that the product works much better relative to plaque and tartar than any drugstore brand – my teeth feel cleaner and smoother after every use. I also plan on trying other flavors of this and maybe also a Tom’s of Maine to compare and contrast.

My next update, Part 2 in the series, will address some of the cleaning products and processes I’m trying out for July. Stay well friends – xo.

My summer has thus far been delightful in some very typical summer ways – a trip up north, running, doing yardwork – and I thought I’d check in to put to print some of the things I’ve been thinking and doing. This will be a multi-part series – the first two, what I’m buying parts 1.1 and 1.2 (personal care) and 2 (home products), will review some of my major purchases this year to support some of the initiatives I’ve undertaken. The third, what I’m absorbing, will go over what I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to – books, shows, magazines, and podcasts. And the last, what I’m doing, will lend some accountability to some activities that I’ve prioritized this summer.

First, obligatory cat pictures – Sarge at his floofiest, beating the recent heatwave and trying to survive fireworks season.

Earlier this year, I made the decision to move away from cosmetic and personal care products sold by companies that test on animals. This was a personal decision that reflects my values and my need to make small, beneficial changes for the long term sustainability of my community and world. I feel that animal testing on cosmetics is completely unnecessary and unethical and that the United States is woefully behind many other countries (including Japan and those in Europe) in moving away from animal testing. I won’t go into a lot of detail, but there’s an absolutely wonderful site called Cruelty Free Kitty that provides great information on why this is important, what we as consumers and animal advocates can do, and, awesomely, a WONDERFUL list of products and brands that offer cruelty free beauty options. I’m almost off my soapbox and into the products I’m trying, but one last thought – if we can buy such great products that DON’T test on animals, why buy drugstore brands that DO? There’s no reason for it.

My switch has been slow and I’m still in heavy experimentation mode – my goal was to use up what I’d already bought from drugstores first, so as not to waste anything.  So this isn’t an exhaustive list of what I will eventually be purchasing – more updates to come.

Eyeliner, shampoo and hairspray, and hair color were my first purchases and super easy:

Eyeliner – I’d been a Revlon or Loreal girl but found a great alternative with Pacifica –this eye pencil. I use the brown – it has a nice color and consistency. It might not last as long as some of the drugstore brands, but I end up reapplying after my lunchtime workout, anyway, so works a charm. Available on Amazon and budget-friendly.

Shampoo – I am a shampoo-every-day kind of girl despite many stylists trying to convince me that this is unnecessary and damaging to my hair. Sorry not sorry.  Even with dry shampoo I end up looking like a greaseball. I loved Dove for its price point and clean scent, but have moved to Acure. This was easy – I already knew and trusted the brand as I use it for facial scrub and other skin care and it’s available at Target. More expensive than drugstore brands but less, I think, than Paul Mitchell or Nexxus or other top-shelf store brands.

Hairspray – This was a tough one for me. Again, I was a Dove girl as I liked the clean scent…I’m trying two replacement options (one in my gym bag and one at home) and am not super thrilled with either for different reasons.  – Giovanni L.A. Hold and Aveda‘s Control Force. Both of these WAAY more than I normally would pay for hairspray and I don’t love either. Need to do more work to find a product I’m all-around content with the way I was with Dove.

Hair Color – I’ve been really pleased with Madison Reed. I’ve used salon color (too expensive and time consuming), box color (poor quality) and another mail order coloring service and Madison Reed is by far the best. High quality, long lasting, cruelty free and it doesn’t have the same ammonia reek that other box kits do – leaves my hair really soft.

Next time I’ll review some of the products that I’ve had a more difficult time replacing – deodorant and toothpaste high on the list. Until then, enjoy your summer – xo friends.